Let Us Prey is a pretty solid horror-ish twist on Assault on Precinct 13. The whole shebang more or less takes place at a smallish Irish police station on Rachel Heggie's first night on the force. While out on patrol, she witnesses a hooligan kid run over a drifter looking guy. But the drifter vanishes into thin air! She brings in the kid anyways, which kind of annoys her assholish Sergeant. They put out an APB on the drifter, and the (only) other two cops on duty bring him in. But he seems catatonic - he won't talk, won't respond - just sits there looking all rugged and creepy. The fuzz calls in a doctor to check him out... and that's what we're left with. A-hole Seargent, Rookie, two other jerky cops, Drifter, Doctor, and a couple of other prisoners.
But unlike Precinct 13, the danger here comes from inside the police station. When he eventually speaks, the drifter is even more mysterious than he lets on, and *everyone* has some deep, dark secrets that they must own up to.
And then there's some violence.
I dug the story of Let Us Prey. It will never be accused of being wholly original, but it's told in such a way that it manages to be consistently intriguing. There are elements of mythology and religion at play, and the film explores the concept of revenge really well - there's a little Devil's Rejects DNA in there. Plus, there's some solid action and decent gore to boot - it's just a nice package for anyone looking for an interesting and relatively serious, sometimes mature horror film. I mean, there's a very dark undercurrent to Let Us Prey - virtually every character is *really* messed up in one way or another. Part of the "fun" is figuring out how. There isn't much humor to the film, but it's never oppressively depressing either. And while I wouldn't say you need a strong stomach for it, I don't think it would hurt.
So it's a hard one to talk about without getting all spoilery. But I will say that it's a very well made film - while the color palette is a little too grim/dark looking at times, it's still visually pleasing. It's got a very crisp look and there are some interesting visual flourishes here and there. I was a big fan of the score by Steve Lynch as well. It's got this pulsing electronic music that kind of reminded me a bit of It Follows - the big difference for me was that it fit the action/vibe here far better than that film. I've never been a big sore guy, but this one was particularly effective and was rattling around in my head for days afterwards. I actually just purchased it to listen to while typing this write-up. And yeah, it's pretty good. It's bold and dark, atmospheric and layered, and will serve me well this October.
It's got a solid cast too. I was glad to see Pollyanna McIntosh survived The Woman, and she is really good her as Rachel Heggie. She plays a tortured soul and you can see her painful history on her face and in her actions - it's a nice performace. And Liam Cunningham is excellent as the drifter ("Six" according to imdb.com - although I didn't catch that part of it). It's the kind of role that could easily be cheesy if it wasn't treated delicately, but Cunningham has the rugged charisma, vocal tone, and timing to make it work.
I have to say that the third act ended up being a little problematic for me. While I wouldn't say Let Us Prey goes off the rails, things definitely get a little more amped up than I was expecting, or honestly, wanting. While the story is kind of out there, the film stays relatively grounded for the first half. So when things get crazy, it's a little jarring. But there's never any abrupt changes in tone, so while it gets a little shaky as things escalate, it still pretty much works. I did have a couple of nagging questions that I'll throw at the bottom in invisotext for spoiler reasons.
But still, I was pretty stoked about Let Us Prey. It's a well made film that does a nice job finding a way to make something really enjoyable out of what could easily be a pretty generic story. The tone isn't "fun" per se, but it's "cool." And it's got plenty of darkness without being a total downer - there's too much adrenaline in there for that.
I would recommend this film.
Nagging, Spoilery Questions: So is this town just happen to be really evil? I was toying with the idea that the drifter *caused* it... I'm okay with his origins being vague, but I would have liked this to be addressed somewhere.
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